Leaflet vs Mapnik
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Leaflet
Lightweight JavaScript library for interactive maps
VS
Mapnik
Toolkit for rendering raster map tiles from spatial data
| Feature | Leaflet | Mapnik |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | JavaScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | source, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 45,461 | ★ 3,949 |
| First released | 2011 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Google Maps JavaScript API | Google Maps, Mapbox |
Why pick each one
Choose Leaflet if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 45.5k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Choose Mapnik if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is Leaflet or Mapnik better?
Leaflet is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Mapnik if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Leaflet and Mapnik free and open-source?
Yes. Leaflet is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Mapnik under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Leaflet and Mapnik with Docker?
Leaflet: check the project docs for container support. Mapnik: yes.